JOHN KNOWLES - Storytiller - “I Can Top That!”

WED 4 & FRI 6 MAY @ 7PM, SUN 8 MAY @ 6PM

If you’ve ever been around a gaggle of comedians chatting, they spend most of their time trying to top each other with a more entertaining story or a funnier gag. As soon as one comic starts telling their story, you can sense that the other comedians ‘reloading’, preparing to launch into their own ‘even better’ story, the moment the first story ends. It like the game people play at dinner parties when someone recounts a tale about having had a terrible job or going to the worst wedding ever and everyone else tries to outdo them. How many times have you heard someone say,“You think that’s bad…I can top that!” This show gives comics the chance to do just that, live on stage.

Hosting the show is John Knowles – the Storytiller, fresh from his sell-out FOURFATHERS shows in the 2016 Spectrum Now Festival and his one-man show in the 2015 Fringe Comedy Festival. Joining him each night are three top comedians known for their ability to tell a great yarn. They include David ‘I Spied’ Callan, Marko Mustac, Dean ‘X-Files’ Haglund and June Waldenberger. The key to this brand of comedy is that these stories are all true. Some will be shocking, others embarrassing, inciteful, sweet or just plain hilarious. Its a smorgasbord of real life adventures and raw revelations with an emphasis on vulnerability, confession and laughter.

Picture a competitive true-story-telling-slam on speed. One comic tells their funniest 3-5 minute true story based on a random audience suggestion. Then the other performers race for the one microphone shouting “I CANTOPTHAT!” before attempting to tell a better story. Its like The Moth meets Family Feud. The audience decides which comic wins the round and that performer retains control of the microphone.

John was recently featured on a special two hour episode of Conversations with Richard Fidler (ABC702’s). Upon finishing the long funny interview, Fidler exclaimed, “Expect phone calls from publishers wanting you to write the book!” James Valentine invites John to appear on his afternoon radio show and onstage at his Giant Dwarf live events because audiences are so enthralled with his true tales and titbits that they laugh just as hard hearing them a second and third time.

John Knowles has worked for nearly 30 years as a comedian, actor, writer and acoustic tile rejuvenator. “I Can Top That!” brings together some of his favourite comedians in a playful but passionate joust of jests.

“John Knowles – Storytiller is a welcome breathe of fresh air in a time where everyone and everything seems to be screaming at you consistently.” – Erica Enriquez – Reviewer